Researchers have released another study about infant vaccinations and autism and the results match up with what other reports have found: The number of vacccines an infant receives is not linked to increased risk of being diagnosed with autism.

According to the online journal Pediatrics, researchers also found that the existing schedule of vaccinations for infants and toddlers is not linked to increased risk of autism spectrum disorders.

Looking at more than 1,000 children in managed care organizations -- 256 of whom had some form of autism -- researchers led by Dr. Frank DeStefano, the director of the Immunization Safety Office at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, basically found that little children cannot develop autism from too many vaccines, delivered too quickly.

They noted that despite the lack of evidence of an association between childhood vaccinations
and autism, up to one-third of parents continue to be
concerned about one. Because of that, more than 10 percent of American parents either have
their children's vaccinations delayed or to refuse to vaccinate them
altogether, it said. That leaves those children vulnerable to diseases such as measles or
pertussis.

In addition, the study noted that in 2004, a comprehensive review by the Institute of Medicine concluded that "the evidence favors rejection of possible causal associations" between the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine (and vaccines containing thimerosal) and autism.

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ABOUT THE WRITERS

TIM DARRAGH has been reporting and editing the news for 30 years, most of it at The Morning Call. For much of that time, he's been doing award-winning investigative and in-depth reporting projects. Tim created the three-year-long Change of Heart project, and wrote a series on the state's fractured food inspection system that led to widespread improvements in food safety. Meantime, that novice jogger you see plodding along the streets around Bethlehem Township? That would be Tim.